Trouble For Mumbai 'Melody' Road As Residents Complain Of "Constant Noise"

India's first 'musical' road in Mumbai has run into trouble, with residents complaining of disturbance to entire neighbourhoods due to the "loud continuous music".

In a letter to civic chief Bhushan Gagrani, over 650 families in the posh Breach Candy area have said the tune of AR Rahman's 'Jai Ho' plays from 6 am till midnight along the northbound stretch of the Coastal Road, which passes directly through densely populated residential areas.

The group of residents said the 'melody' road is "causing significant distress and serves no public necessity" at a time cities are working to create quieter, more liveable environments. "Residents are unable to keep their windows open. The sound enters homes as a constant, muffled but intrusive background noise," the letter to Gagrani stated.

Further, auditory distraction on a high speed road is matter of concern, the letter stated. It added that the civic body ignores serious civic concerns, like speeding super cars on the Coastal Road, to focus on avoidable interventions.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis inaugurated the musical road stretch on February 11. The road features specially-installed grooves at a designated speed. This is the fifth such road in the world and the first of its kind in India.

Officials said signboards have been placed inside the tunnel at 500 metres, 100 metres, and 60 metres before the stretch to alert motorists about the upcoming musical road and the required speed for the experience.

The concept of musical roads was first developed in Japan in 2007 by engineer Shizuo Shinoda. Similar experiments have since been implemented in countries such as Hungary, Japan, South Korea and the United Arab Emirates.